[Craig Seeman]

Sorry for the typos. I look forward to an edit feature in the COW’s future.

[Craig Seeman]

“Perfect” may mean one thing but the rest of your post

[stephan] “I would go out on a limb and say quality for the students is not the main issue for the students but rather understanding the workflow and principles so that when they do go out on their own they can be informed.”

Says something else.

If you want to teach the students how to shoot with 16×9 in mind you could get a Sony PDX-10 which captures in DV but is 16×9 native chips. They can learn about working in that aspect ration (standard in HD) but on a budget.

HDV, DVCProHD, HDCAM an the various frame rates and 720p vs 1080i all have variant workflows so it would be incorrect to teach them that or any single HD workflow as THE HD workflow.

I think HDV has so many issues that I wouldn’t want to teach students that as a way to do professional work.

DVCProHD can also be handled with firewire and doesn’t require the heavy drive requirement of HDCAM (and HDCAM SR) on the computer side. They might be able to learn a lot about HD and variants with the Panasonic HVX200 (out around the end of December give or take). The issue is acquiring on P2 cards or direct to portable disk drive. The limited amout of acquisation space on the P2 cards can make for a frustrating work flow. The poratable hard drive from Focus Enhancements, which would give you reasonable record time is not out yet. While the camera and storage media is more expensive than HDV, you can have a deckless work flow (with no easy way to back up your source video).

The camera shoots in 16×9 DV (to tape), DVCPro 50, DVCProHD, 720p24, 720p30, 720p60, 1080i and some other variations which certainly presents the students with a variety of HD shooting situations and post workflows. There’s just way too many variants and types of gear from 1/3″ chip cameras to large (and probably too expensive for your school) 2/3″ chip cameras that record DVCProHD or HDCAM (mostly to tape at the moment) to teach them all. Nope, no perfect HD system and I wouldn’t even put HDV in it’s class (or the classroom) but hey, that’s just me.

I’m sure others will have very different opinions but it might be good to learn them. That in itself could be an excellent lesson.

All that said, your best bet might be using 16×9 Standard Def.

Think of this, you can teach with 16×9 SD on a day to day basis and then rent an HVX for a few days and then an HDV camera (and deck) for few days (or whatever) so they can grab and input video from each. You wouldn’t have to buy HD cameras and then they can compare the workflows with their 16×9 SD experience.

[Craig Seeman]

Flip4Mac works inside Cleaner 6.0.1 and 6.0.2b so it should work in 6.5

[Craig Seeman]

. . . and how about 720p60 and yes with 1080 too this camera seems to be baby Varicam/Cine Alta in one tiny box. For those still dealing SD there’s DVCPro50 too. One flexible little might mite. Now this may not be the camera for wedding videographers for a while due to storage but for professionals it can range from a great “b” camera on broadcast work to a camera you can use on corporate jobs and local cable spots. Yes, it’s 1/3″ but they’ve packed nearly everything a pro could want at that size without having to bump to 1/2″ chip system and a larger body.

BTW, I was at NAB Post all three days (at the Telestream both a lot). Panasonic wasn’t there. Who was showing the camera/ which conference?

[Craig Seeman]

And for that reason some of us are waiting with baited breath to see what a reasonably acquisition and archive would be for the Panasonic HVX-200 DVCProHD, but some wouldn’t consider anything with 1/3″ chips HD either. To me HDV is a bad idea I’d wish would go away.

[Craig Seeman]

Some cameras crop, other cameras squeeze. Sony VX and PD series squeeze. There is a difference. Crop simply lops off top and bottom of picture. Squeeze maintains the full image but actually changes it to anamorphic BUT it’s using far fewer pixels on the chip to do that. End result is both cause image degradation but technically they are not the same. I’m not unhappy with the 170 squeeze because, under certain circumstances (shooting in dark clubs) I don’t see too much damage. The DVX series also does squeeze I believe and when doing it in progressive mode, seems to hold up well. All the above compromise the image though and any professional or person with a good eye, can see it.

Best is to get a camera with 16×9 chips. Cheapest is Sony PDX-10 but they’re small chips and the camera doesn’t preform well in low light. Although I really DO NOT LIKE HDV, the HDV cameras (and Panasonics PVCProHD HVX200 I believe) have 16×9 chips and can shoot 16×9 in DV mode natively.

[Craig Seeman]

Soon to be followed by Ford updating the Edsel.

[Craig Seeman]

Flip4Mac Studio Pro
https://www.flip4mac.com/wmv.htm
Works in FCP, QTPro, iMovie, Compressor 2, Cleaner, Squeeze.
It can create good looking WMV9 files up to 1920×1080 HiDef full screen to an HDTV from a fast Windows PC. How’s that for “full screen?”

[Craig Seeman]

Have you looked at SoftPress Freeway? It’s web design is very much like a DTP program so it’s fairly easy to use compared to Dreamweaver or GoLive. I’m sure many code control “geeks” and Photoshop folks will frown on Freeway but it’s a powerful, easy to use, seems to have good output, gets you from design to “live” very quickly. It may depend on how much time you want to spend learning how to use Dreamweaver vs having a professional web page in which you easily post demos and describe your service on the web quickly.

[Craig Seeman]

EXCELLENT production value. Surprising for High School sport. This accolade is coming from the former Video Engineer at Major League Baseball (Baseball Max & This Week in Baseball as well as the league distributed scoreboard stuff).